A nearly 15 per cent raise is on the way for city councillors following the municipal election this fall, with no expectation of additional hours worked, along with possible inclusion in a pension plan.
The latter is to be decided at a council meeting before the end of the current term.
In a 11-2 vote on Monday evening, current city council members agreed to up the position’s pay to $47,446 from $41,412, though it avoided putting a part-time or full-time label on workload expectations.
Prior to the vote, Coun. June Hofland referred to her support as a “policy-based decision,” referencing a previous council motion to align council pay with the 55th percentile of comparator municipalities, which is what the increase is intended to achieve.
Joining Hofland in support were Mayor Cam Guthrie and councillors James Gordon, Mark MacKinnon, Cathy Downer, Dominque O’Rourke, Rodrigo Goller, Bob Bell, Mike Salisbury and Leanne Caron.
Councillors Christine Billings and Dan Gibson were opposed.
Earlier this month, council’s committee of the whole approved a motion by a 10-3 vote that, if ratified, would have seen councillors receive a pay bump to $51,327 annually. That level of compensation was recommended as an alternative option by a council remuneration and support advisory committee, based in part on information provided by consultants.
The review committee’s main recommendation would have seen councillor pay increased to $75,000 annually, with an expectation of full-time hours put into the post.
Since then, city staff have re-evaluated councillor workloads in other jurisdictions, including single-tier municipalities and those with both local and regional council duties, leading to a staff recommendation of $47,446 annually for councillors.
“Staff believe that the consultant’s report, used by the committee, inadvertently calculated the 60th percentile and not the 55th (as previously directed by council),” states a memo to council from Mark Ellis, the city’s general manager of human resources corporate services. “This was found to be limited to the councillor compensation calculation and not replicated elsewhere.”
Council voted in late 2020 not to increase its remuneration annually, tied to non-union employee raises, during the pandemic. The mayor’s pay has not been increased during the term of council.
The Monday evening motion also saw the mayor’s pay held at $152,711 per year, which is the current salary. A $20,000 reduction was proposed by the remuneration review committee, but that idea was squashed during the committee of the whole discussion.
Council also voted 11-2, with O’Rourke and Billings opposed, directing staff to prepare a bylaw that would see councillors and the mayor receive an Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System pension.
If ultimately approved, that bylaw would see council members contribute nine per cent of their salary to the pension plan, along with a municipal contribution of about $51,100.
“None of us may benefit from this,” Downer said. “We’ve never really discussed it, so here we are tonight.”
City staff confirmed the pension inclusion bylaw would be prepared and presented to council for consideration prior to the Oct. 24 municipal election and come into effect after.
“I don’t want to miss an opportunity for future councillors,” said Hofland.
With the goal of maintaining council pay at the 55th percentile among comparable municipalities, council also agreed to let city staff handle future pay increase reviews and recommendations, rather than involve an appointed committee of citizens.
That motion passed 8-5, with opposition coming from Gordon, Allt, Goller, Salisbury and O’Rourke.
“I would be concerned about removing citizen input on this process altogether,” commented Goller. “I believe it’s a valuable step.”
“Could there be influence on staff,” questioned O’Rourke. “How do we make sure there’s no influence?”
Deputy CAO Trevor Lee assure council any report would come with detailed background information and data, with comparator details provided, for council’s consideration.
“I don’t think it’s worked out well,” Downer said of the committee, noting council has now twice decided not to go with the committee's recommendation.
